


The Hole He Left

by 2nerd4this



Category: Agents of SHIELD - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Death, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Mourning, mama may
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-16 21:49:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20609870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2nerd4this/pseuds/2nerd4this
Summary: Piper finally gets to mourn Davis





	The Hole He Left

**Author's Note:**

> This just kinda ignores canon after Davis dies(spoiler alert), so just go with it so guess

A couple hours after Mack and YoYo, currently inhabited by Izel, left the base, May was walking aimlessly around the hallways. She was trying her best to not think about all that had just happened. Mack and YoYo were gone, Davis was dead, and the team was mourning and afraid. Davis had been part of Shield since before the fall, and once he and Piper joined the team, they had formed close relationships with many of the team members, especially Simmons and Daisy. May hadn't spoken to anyone since Mack and Elena had left, and she came to the realization that she didn't know where Davis's body was. She was smart enough to realize that putting this off and trying to ignore it probably wasn't the best plan, so she headed toward the Med Bay, in search of Simmons and/or Davis.

It turns out her first instinct was correct, because there was a small crowd of agents around the door to the Med Bay that May easily penetrated. Sure enough, Jemma was there, trying to convince the agents to go back to their bunks and come back to say their goodbyes tomorrow. Any idea of protesting was wiped from their minds when they saw May, and they quickly dispersed. Jemma smiled grimly at May who nodded at her and they walked into the room together. Against one wall was a body bag, definitely holding Davis. A figure, who May quickly figured out was Piper, was sitting in an armchair next to it, hooked up to a machine, probably pumping pain meds. Jemma turned to May and sighed.

"I tried to get her to lay down, but she refuses to leave his side. She's also in a lot of pain, despite the meds. I sent them away to give her some privacy, but you might be able to get her to rest." May glanced at Piper, then back at Simmons, who also looked exhausted.

"I'll try. Thank you Jemma. You should get some sleep too." May reached out and squeezed the girl's hand. Jemma smiled weakly at her and proceeded to walk away without protest, too tired to do anything else. May turned back to Piper, and hesitated for only a moment before pulling up a chair next to her. The young agent made no sign that she noticed her mentor's presence and just continued staring at the table. May settled into the chair, taking a long look at Davis before shaking her head and looking at Piper. Her bandages hand was suspended in a cast and sling and she was attached to a mobile IV. This didn't give her much mobility, but she was still had her knees pulled up to her chest and her chin nestled between them. Her eyes were almost glazed over as she stared at her friend. May took a deep breath and moved into Piper's line of sight. 

"Piper." May softly whispered. A flash of recognition passed over the agent's face and after a couple seconds, she turned her head slightly toward the older woman.  
"Hey. Simmons went to lay down, so I'm here. You need to rest, Piper." May rested her hand on Piper's leg as the other girl shook her head.

"I have to stay with him. I can't, I shouldn't.... He needs me." Piper's voice cracked and her breathing quickened. May shook her head.

"I'm so sorry Piper."

May took a second to collect herself. Piper reminded her all too much of May herself when she lost Coulson. The look in her eyes, the definite feeling of loneliness, the desperation for it to all be a dream. And May had had time, days, weeks even, to prepare herself, at least the second time. There was no warning for Piper. Davis was young, confident, and a father, to top it all off. He didn't deserve this.

"He'll be ok without you for a little while Piper. You need to rest. Davis would want you to rest." 

May stood up and offered Piper her hand. The girl eyed it warily before taking it shakily and maneuvering out of the chair. May gave her a reassuring smile and led her to a bed around the corner, out of sight of Davis. In her other hand she pulled the IV stand. While May situated the IV, Piper climbed onto the bed and sat against the wall.

"Thank you. Now get some sleep. I can stay if you want me to." May's tone left no room for argument, so Piper lay down and pulled off her sling, setting it on table next to her. She seemed to be operating almost fully on autopilot. May pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed, pulling a magazine from the stack next to her, because despite Piper's lack of response, she was fully intending to spend the entire night here if she had to. May handled her emotions, especially grief, by helping others.

A couple minutes had past and May assumed that Piper had finally fallen asleep when the girl in question whispered--

"I'm sorry."

May's head shot up and looked incredulously at her prodige. 

"What for?" The older agent set down the magazine and shifted the chair so she was facing Piper, concern making its way past her usual mask. 

"I don't know. Everything, I guess. Pulling my gun on Izel, breaking down when I should have been focusing on finding the Director and Elena, being such a mess." Piper lay on her back, staring at the ceiling and absentmindedly rubbing the bandage on her hand. 

"Piper that's ridiculous. You got possessed, shot, and watched your best friend die. You're allowed to break down. I'd be more worried if you were acting normal." 

"But I... I should have held it together long enough to help you guys. And now I don't think I'm going to be able to pull myself back together like you do." 

"What do you mean?"

"You're so good at that. You get hurt and you keep it together until you can break down, and then the second people need you you're back together again. I can't do that." May scoffed lightly in response.

"Piper, you don't need to do that. I'm not a good model, especially when dealing with grief. You don't need to have it all together, ok? You just grieve however you need to grieve and we will try our best to help you along." May reached out and gently patted Piper's unharmed hand. The girl smiled weakly back at her. 

"It gets easier, right?" 

"I can't promise that it will always be easier, but yeah, in my experience, it gets easier over time. The whole Sarge thing has set my grieving process with Phil back a little, but yeah, it's easier. I promise."

"Good. Thank you, Agent May. I'm sorry for.." Piper was quickly cut off--

"Don't even try. Go to sleep Piper. I'll be here." May gave her an infamous look tha had Piper sporting a genuine smile for the first time that night. The older agent smirked back at her and settled back into her chair. Piper pulled the covers up and shifted to her side, exhaustion finally catching up with her. 

\---

May kept her promise, and was there in the Med Bay doing Tai Chi when Piper woke up the next morning. The woman watched out of the corner of her eye as the realization of where she was flashed across the younger girl's face and May's heart ached as she watched Piper hurting. Grief was such an unfair, ugly emotion. Losing people was so, so hard and it was the one emotion that May had trouble concealing. She felt so much for Piper. Losing a friend, especially one that you shared an entire life with, was devastating. May had gone through it many, many times and it still hurt. 

She was glad, though, that Piper was still showing emotion. May had watched Piper grow into the mold of herself and it was scary. The girl was able to mirror her evil eye, her exasperated look, her bad-assery, her fighting skill, her compassion, and her loyalty. It was such a relief when May was reminded that the girl had yet to pick up on her lack of emotion and detachment. That was not healthy, May knew better than anyone. 

So, May remained by Piper's side, at least on an emotional level, for as long as she could. Piper had thrown herself back into her work, reminding May again of herself, but May had kept an eye on her. Without Davis, Piper laughed less. Everyone laughed less. He didn't stumble into morning briefings half awake in mismatched clothes anymore and he didn't stage prank works between the SciTech and Ops recruits anymore. Piper sat alone against the wall during meetings instead of with Davis and she seemed lost without someone to look out for. She carried around the space pen that Davis had stole and would take it out and click it whenever she felt especially lonely. Life in the base continued, but without Davis, a man who always seemed to be overlooked and under appreciated, it was quieter, sadder, and darker. And that, May kept telling herself, was the true mark of an amazing person. After they were gone, you could feel the hole they left. And it hurt.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
